Rumsfeld includes Jaish among deadliest outfits

17 August 2002The Daily Excelsior

Washington DC: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has named Jaish-i-Mohammed, the Pakistan-based militant outfit operating in Jammu and Kashmir, among the deadliest organisations in the ''terrorist underworld.'' In his annual report to the US President and Congress, Rumsfeld attributed the emergence and growth of Jaish-i-Mohammad and other terrorist outfits to the conditions prevailing in ''some states, including some with nuclear weapons'' where there are no capable or responsible Governments. Without mentioning Pakistan as one of those states, he said: ''the absence of capable or responsible Governments in many countries in wide areas of Asia, Africa and the Western hemisphere creates a fertile ground for non-state actors to engage in terrorism, acquisition of NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) weapons, illegal drug trafficking, or other illicit activities across state borders.'' ''A terrorist underworld including such groups as Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Jaish-i-Mohammed operates in such areas,'' the report with subheading ''increasing challenges and threats emanating from the territories of weak states and ungoverned areas’ says. Rumsfeld said in several regions, the inability of some states to govern their societies, safeguard their military armaments and prevent their territories from serving as sanctuary to terrorists and criminal organisations poses a threat to stability and places a demand on U S forces. Afghanistan, he said, is but one example of the security implications for the U S of such weak or ungoverned areas.